


Virtual Prison

by Thefemalearrow



Category: Original Work
Genre: A bunch of references, Gen, Inspired by Ready Player One, Inspired by Sword Art Online, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV First Person, Rescue Missions, Virtual Reality
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-07
Updated: 2020-09-07
Packaged: 2021-03-07 03:27:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 6,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26346328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thefemalearrow/pseuds/Thefemalearrow
Summary: It's been thirty days since the ransom began. Thirty days since Lauren Carder has seen her brother awake. 100,006 teens logged onto the Foreland during the launch day, but none have logged out since because the creator has them all trapped inside, demanding a million-dollar ransom for their return. Lauren realizes that the only way to save everyone might be by entering the Foreland itself.---(May or may not have written this in seventh grade)
Relationships: Original Female Character & Original Female Character, Original Female Character & Original Male Character, Original Female Character/Original Male Character





	1. Chapter 1

27 days ago, the ransom began. 30 days since I last had a conversation with my brother. “Bye nerd” were my last words to him. I wished I hugged him more. Now I may never see him alive again. I tried every angle, but I couldn’t free him. My school used to have 1,002 students; now it only has 404. That’s only a small percent of teens who are trapped. My name is Lauren Carder, I’m 18, and I’ll stop at nothing to save my twin brother.

The idea came to me during P.E, where I get most of my thinking done. A dodgeball hit me in the head, and the idea hit me. As I sat there, the idea hit me, I’d join the virtual world. It’d be risky and I’d risk my 4.8 GPA, but it would be worth it. I’d have to find someone who was selling a chip, the flash drives you to plug into your computer to enter Forland, the virtual world.

“Are you okay?” a voice asked. It was Garret, my best friend/ crush since kindergarten.  
“I’m fine,” I said. Garret helped me stand up.  
“I’m sorry, but I can’t go to the mall today,” I said.  
“Why?”Garret asked.  
“I can’t tell you or you’ll try to stop me. But meet me behind the school after school,” I said.  
“Okay L,” Garrett said. Garret was my anchor. He’d always stop me from doing dumb things. I usually appreciate it, but not today. We both promised to never sign-on into the Forland, but family comes first to me. I never go back on a promise, expect this time. I’m sure if he was in my situation, he’d do the same.

I counted down the hours until the end of school. At 3:00 pm I’d tell Garret I like him. I dreamed of this day, he’d pick me up and kiss me. We’d have a wedding in a beautiful field and I’d wear light pink, strapless gown. We'd Have 10 kids and live in a big castle in England. Now I know that might be a fantasy, I don’t know if I’ll come back from this mission.

I sat on a bench near the bus pickup area. Both me and Garrett drove ourselves home every day. He was one minute and thirty seconds late.  
“You wanted to see me,” Garrett said as he sat beside me.“Listen, Garrett,” I said. I was out of words. Everything about Garrett was perfect. He gave me a look as if he was getting impatient. So instead of listing everything I love about him, I kissed him. My first kiss wasn’t as romantic as I would picture it, but it was our perfect first kiss. He quickly pulled away.  
“Lauren, I’m sorry, I don’t like you that way,” Garrett said. He walked off straight away. I burst into tears. I wish Airon, my brother, was there. I was there when he got rejected by Mary Anne on at our third grade Valentine’s dance. I slow danced with him to cheer him up. That made me get up. Every second, Don, the creator of Forland, was getting more and more insane.

On September 12th, Don Martin release his creation The Forland. Teens all across the world signed up. Three days later, he trapped the teens without them knowing. He said all 100,006 teens logged in would die if he didn’t receive $1,000,000 in U.S money. Airion logged in day one and hasn’t logged out since. When I heard about this virtual world, I thought the idea was dumb. Then again, I’ve never been into fantasy. My brother counted down the days until The Forland became accessible to everyone. He saved every penny he could to buy a set.

I drove down to the local video store. The Radio Shack was the only place in town still selling the flash drives and the helmets. While driving there, I saw a group of protestors outside the store. Some believe Don Martin is working with Artemis Jones, the owner of The Radio Shack, and are gonna split the ransom. I believe Artemis is innocent. Besides, billions of stores were selling Forland sets so he’d only get to keep a small percent of the ransom if any.

When I walked in, the place was a wreck. DVD’s were scattered all around the floor, broken Forland helmets, and a poster for Panic at the Disco was ripped to shreds. The Panic at the Disco one got to me. Why did you have to bring one of the best bands of our generation into this?

“Sorry the place is such a wreck, the protesters got violent last night,” a female’s voice said. It was a young woman probably early 20s with blue hair working the register.  
“Sorry about what happened,” I said.  
“Can you really blame them? Their kids might have bought their sets here,” she said.“Speaking of sets, were there any ones that weren’t damaged?”I asked.  
“Only like three,” she replied.  
“How much are you charging?” I asked. She gave me a look like I just told her a disgusting story. “I’m just a shooked I’m doing it too.”  
“There’s no escape,” she said.  
“I know,” I said. She sighed.  
“My nephew, Chris, is trapped,” she said.  
“I’ll save him, I’ll save them all,” I said.  
“Good luck,” she said.

She ended up giving it to me for free. She said it was to make sure the sale didn’t go back to her and it becomes a controversy. I had an idea. Maybe if I lay beside Airon when I entered The Forland I’d teleport near his avatar. I have no idea what I’m getting myself into, so this is my best bet.

As soon as I got home, I wasted no time. I ran up to Airon’s room. Airon was lying on his bed, lifeless. I was relieved when realized when I saw he was breathing. Setting up your set was easy: plug your drive into your computer, plug it up to your helmet, put on your helmet, enjoy. Before I put on my helmet, I took one last look around his room. I also downloaded 9 hours of news reports on the ransom. I looked at the helmets. It was a screen and an array of colorful wires. I put on my helmet and turned it on. I soon fell onto the floor next to Airon’s bed unconscious. I was trapped.


	2. Chapter 2

I was in space. I was nothing but a glove. “CHOOSE YOUR PLAYER,” an announcer said. Two photos appeared one of a heavily armed human female and the other of a heavily armed male. I choose the female picture. A human female avatar appeared. “CHOOSE YOUR SPECIES,” the same announcer said. Every creature from any pop culture thing appeared. I thought about becoming a xenomorph, but Airon needed to be able to recognize me. I decided to go as a mage, which was a human with magical abilities. I made her look just like me, but I added purple tips to my brown hair. She looked just like my Sims character. The last thing I had to do was make my username. I took inspiration from Art3mis, from Ready Player One, and did Laur3n.

After typing in my username, the world loaded around me. I was outside a New York like city. There’s a sign that says “WELCOME TO NEWBS LAND!” The more I ran, the world loaded around me. Avatars started surrounding me. Above them where their avatar names and what they were. I found a bookstore near a sushi restaurant. I bought some books on how the Forland works. I learned about the club, which was where groups of avatars of the same races met. I was on my way out when I was stopped by a woman.

“This is weird, but I love your username,” she said. I saw she was a shapeshifter with the named Diana.  
“Thanks,” I said. I noticed she had one green eye and one blue eye.  
“I noticed you’re a newb,” Diana said.  
“I logged in for the first time, like thirty minutes ago,” I said.  
“I promise, once you get settled and start exploring you’ll never wanna log out,” she said. “Here’s my character I.D if you wanna hang out.”

I looked at her I.D for awhile. She was a different avatar in her photo. She had red hair and grey eyes. She was wearing a Johnny Cash shirt that was a little too big for her. It made me wonder: what’s her real avatar? For all, I know she could be a dude. Either way, her stats were impressive and he/she will be helpful in my mission.  
\---  
One week, thirteen hours, seven minutes, and fourteen seconds is how long I’ve been logged in. I’ve spent that time looking for an avatar that could be Airon, learning my abilities and the Forland, and exploring with Dianna. I wanna gain Dianna’s trust before I bring up the mission. My search for Airon has been dead end after dead end. After Dianna and I explored a temple nearly identical to the one in the original Indian and Jones film, it hit me. Maybe Airon’s avatar doesn’t look like a human. His favorite movie of all time is the 2014 Godzilla. The only thing that was easy about adjusting was to my abilities.

I checked the clock; my shift would be over in a minute. Dianne gave me a job as a janitor at her virtual school. She opened it because she knew teens would probably move into here. There’s only like 12 students, all mages from the same club. I would have enrolled, but I lied and said I was a high school graduate to get more perks. Being back in a school made me miss reality. Especially the two sophomores Le and Steve’s hair, which was a nice nod to Stranger Things. Steve’s hair would always leave gifts for her as the alias “Avatar 606.” It reminded me of Garrett. I tried taking off my helmet, but it was like a stabbing feeling in my neck. It made me break down, not the pain, but the emotional factor that I might never see the people I care for again.

After my shift, I and Dianna were going to The Solar, the highest-ranking lounge in all of Newbs Land. For the first three days of the Forland, you had to have a password to get in, but like everything after the first three days, it became free. Most people only had jobs here to kept this place running. I think it was so no one wanted to leave and found out they can’t, then they would start a resistance. 

I went back to my apartment. You can decorate it any way you want. I made it a penthouse. Every Room in it, except the bathrooms and kitchen, is decorated with leopard print. My favorite animal is leopards, I love their spots.

I dressed in a black jumpsuit with a leopard print belt. I also wore leather boots and a leopard print slap bracelet. My style has been called tacky billions of times, but I don’t care. It was my style and I loved it. Dianna picked me up in her red truck. She’s wearing a tight, sparkly, red dress and she was in the form she was in on her I.D. That’s the form she/he mostly in. I haven’t asked about her/his gender. In a conversation, I call Dianna by whatever gender the avatar was changed into.

“Have you heard of the avatar Percy?” Dianna asked. Percy, the most famous avatar. He’s the leader of the Forland’s most famous rock band. He’s an Argon, a human with bird wings. He asked not to be recorded, so the only photo of him are of his wings. The only people who have his I.D. are his bandmates.

“Yeah, he has an entire section in my races book,” I said.  
“His band is playing at The Solar tonight,” she said.  
“Sweet,” I said.

When we walked in, Toxic by Britney Spears started playing, as if Don Martin was trying to send me a message. The dance floor looked like a fanfiction. A xenomorph is dancing with umpa lumpa. The floor was see-through, and under it was lava. I sat at the table and watched Dianna and the weird pairings dance.

Velle, the leader of the most powerful vampire club came onto the stage. The D.J stopped playing. She was wearing a long black dress that had actual flames at the bottom of the dress.

“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen,” she said, “I present to you guys Gravity.”

Percy flew onto stage. He screamed into his microphone. If he could, our eardrums. One ability Argons have is paralyzing screams. Luckily it doesn’t work on other avatars. His bandmates.

As I sit here listening to them play, I thought about Percy. He sounded familiar. I looked into his eyes, and it came full circle. How did I not see it? Percy is Airon.


	3. Chapter 3

Now thinking about it, it was so obvious. Percy was the name of his comic book hero that he submitted to a contest when we were 9. It’s also his Minecraft creature's name. Percy also had his nose and the birthmark on the palm of his left hand that looked like a bee. His voice was almost identical to Airon’s, he just added a small Australian accent. I even know why he chooses Argon.

When we were 12, dad took us to a midnight screening of the Avengers, much to mom’s dismay. After the movie, it was raining. The road was slippery and we ran into a lamp post. My arm was broke, but it messed up Airon’s spinal cord. He’s been stuck in a wheelchair ever since. He wanted a pilot for the air force before the accident. Dianna sat beside me.

“Percy is so cute,” Dianna said.  
“That’s my brother!”I said.  
“Wait he is?” she said.  
“All the information you need is in an email I sent you,” I informed. Now that I’ve located Airon, things can get moving.  
“Thank you Newbs Land!”Percy yelled. I looked over to Dianna to get up, but she was watching the news I shared with her. She was shocked. I could see it in her face. As I looked in her eyes, I saw she was about to cry. I started to debate whether showing her the news was a good idea or not. I decided it was a good idea because along with the other avatars, she needed to know.

“So this whole thing is a sham,” she said.  
“Yeah, I logged in to see if the answer was in the Forland,” I admitted.  
“I’m going to drive home, wanna ride?” she asked.  
“No, I’ll take a Uber,” I said. Now that I knew Airon’s avatar name, I can meet with him. I looked him up on the avatar finder. I sent him an invite to the nearest sushi place(his favorite food is sushi) for a chat. In the Forland you don’t have to worry about your real needs on page eight of the virtual times' volume one it states:

“While logged into the Forland, don’t worry about your real-world needs. We have such advanced technology everything you do will affect your real body. Please also remember this also applies to injuries you get logged in, and yes it also means you can die while logged in. Find more information on injuries on page 500.”

I wonder if the part about injuries part caused a red flag for anyone else. Don Martin also stated that he wouldn’t take any responsibilities for deaths caused while logged in. As soon as I clicked the link, a bright purple line appeared on the ground. It was giving me directions. It led me to a taxi station, where a taxi was waiting for me. It drew me to Osana’s, the sushi place near the bookstore.

When I got there, Percy was sitting at a booth, waiting for me. He was no longer wearing his rock gear. He was wearing a white tank top with a leather jacket, blue jeans, and black tennis shoes. In other words: more like his real-world counterpart. I sat on the opposite side of the table.

“Lauren, glad you finally joined The Forland,” he said, excited.  
“Wait you recognize me?”I asked.  
“If you were trying to hide by looking different, you failed,” he said.  
“Since you recognize me, we can get straight to business,” I said. I sent him the news I downloaded onto my set.  
“This is from the outside world,” Airon said.  
“Kept watching,” I said. He quickly turned to a serious look. If he was shocked or upset, he was doing a good job of hiding it. After about five minutes, he turned it off.  
“I think you should delete this footage,” he said.  
“Why would I delete this footage?”I asked surprise.  
“Most of us are losers in real life, here we can be more,” he said.  
“Are you aware this isn’t a game anymore, Don Martin can kill you guys at any time he pleases,” I said.  
“If I die here, I’ll die a celebrity and a hero to my fellow avatars,” he said.  
“Airon, mom, and dad have been worried sick about you,” I said.  
“Have long have you been logged in?” he asked.  
“A week,” I said.  
“Well Lauren, they probably are worried about you too,” Airon said. He had a point. They would definitely have noticed I was gone by now. I wonder if Don Martin raised the ransom when I entered.  
“If being a hero is is important to you, imagine how big of a hero you’d be in the real world if you help me,” I said.  
“Forget it, I’m not gonna help you Laur,” he said, angrily. He left the restaurant right after. I noticed he left something. It was a small slip of white paper. I picked it up and it glowed. I recognized this from when I met Dianna, he left me his I.D. I guess no means he’ll think about it.


	4. Chapter 4

It’s been two weeks since I talked to Airon about the ransom or talked to him in general. I quit my day job to make sure my cause was the only thing I worried about. I moved to Gatesville, a town that’s good for mages. I spend most of my days studying this world and the news feed I downloaded. I remember the day it all started.

I slept late so I missed the news. I had the Monday funk. I didn’t notice the fact that Airon’s room or that mom and dad weren't home. I started to notice things were different when I realized there were only about twenty people in my school’s courtyard. Garrett showed me the live feed from Glitz T.V. Gail Weathers, one of the reporters was showing outside a video store in Japan. There were protesters with signs like “You’re killing our children!” I read the line under the title it said. Garrett explained that Don Martin when insane and trapped all 100,006 teenagers, and won’t let them go unless he gets $1,000,000. Once I got home, I tried everything to take off Airon’s set. While I sat in my room doing homework, I watched news reports about the ransom and the protestors all across the world. Mom and dad got home late that night. They had been protesting the Radio Shack all day.

I returned to my cabin after a walk in the woods(I moved into a cabin in GatesVille). I checked my messages and to my surprise no replays from Airon or Dianne. I worry about Dianne. She hasn’t been posting on her Face page(the Forland’s version of Facebook). Her avatar has not left her apartment for the past two weeks. I fear for her. Before I could watch the reruns of Friends, I noticed I was late. I joined a mage club to get more supports because I might have to go to war with Don Martin, and if that happens I’ll have to get as much muscle power as I can get. 

We met at a 50s style cafe. This is where we usually meet. There are only seven of us and we’re all girls. The leader, X(don’t know what X stands for), is probably the lowest-ranked mage in this club. We’re more like a group of teenage girls who hang out together and occasionally cast a spell or two.

“I forgot I was supposed to meet Madix last week for a date,” X complained.  
“Maybe you should log out and talk to him,” a girl said. I guess today is the best day for them to find out about the ransom. Once X tries to take off her set, I’ll send all of them the news footage I have. I noticed X had her hands a few inches away from her neck.  
“Guys it won’t come off!”X yelled.  
“Here I’ll log off and take yours off for you,” Z suggested. Z and X are bestfriends and neighbors and real life. Z tried the same thing that X did, and she had just as much success. Eventually, they all started trying to take off their sets.  
“I think I should let you girls in on a secret,” I said. I pulled up my files. As soon as I went to my links file. I noticed it was empty. All the news footage I had downloaded onto my set was gone.


	5. Chapter 5

I sank into my seat. Don Martin had defeated me. My dreams of a rebellion against him were crushed. I was one of his prisoners. The thought of losing and just becoming a pawn in his game had me tearing up. No one was gonna believe he was evil if I had no proof. Maybe I should just enjoy the fantasy till someone pays the ransom or he pulls the plug.

Don Martin. He probably hacked into my set and deleted the footage. That’s the only way he could have gotten in. “Laur3n, is everything alright?”X asked.   
“Yeah,” I lied. They probably could tell I was lying by my face. What difference did it make if I stayed in the outside world? “I’m leaving the club.”  
“Why?”Z asked.  
“I wanna be alone, forever,” I said.  
“You're extremely smart, and we need you to help us figure out why are sets won’t come off,” X said.  
“It’s because your all being held hostage!” I yelled.  
“Huh?”X asked.  
“He tightened it so you can’t take it off, he’s asking for a million dollars,” I explained, “I had nine hours of news footage, but it somehow got deleted.”  
“Then why should we believe you?” one asked.  
“You know you can’t take off your set,” I said.  
“Why would we want to take off our sets, this is our perfect world,” she said. I found out her avatar named “Ashley Harries.” I checked for her on Facebook, but she didn’t have one. After looking for avatars with names like hers, I decided to check the list of NPCs. I found her soon after opening the list. She was a Watcher, an NPC who worked as a cop. They were programmed to make sure the players don’t break any of the Forland’s 12 laws. It was to keep the other users “safe.” Non Serious crimes you’d usually not be able to leave your house for a week or two. Serious crimes you’d get tackled to the ground. If it’s a serious crime, you’d be forced to go work at a low-end job for the rest of your time here. You’d live in a workhouse with other criminals. Don thought of everything.  
“She’s an NPC!”I yelled.  
“What?” she asked, surprised.  
“She’s a watcher, she’s programmed to make sure no one breaks any of the laws,” I said.  
“I was just making sure you lovely ladies were okay,” she lied.  
“Or it’s because Don Martin wanted a spy because of the news footage I had,” I said.  
“You think you’re a hero, but you’re just a delusional girl who thinks she can save all her fellow hostages,” she said, “you’re hopeless.” She soon dissolved into pixels. I guess this is what happens when a spy NPC gets discovered. She’ll probably respond somewhere else in the Forland as another NPC.

It’s been a month and I haven’t left my cabin since I lost my footage. Ashley was right, I am hopeless. I spend my days eating chips and watching Friends. When Airon wasn’t around, I’d find comfort and watching season six of Friends(my favorite season). I know every word from every episode that season. I’ve gained at least 20 pounds. I use to work out here. When I lived in Newbs Land, my apartment complex had a gym. In GatesVille, I use to run in the woods. Now I do neither of those things, now I sit back and eat chips. 

I was on the season six finale of Friends when I got a chat session in Capital City. Capital City is basically the capital from The Hunger Games if most of the people who lived there were decent people. I decided to accept it because it was Don Martin hosting. Even though it was all pixels, I wanna look the person who took all the kids from their homes, though they never left, in the eyes. A limo would pick me up at 5:00 p.m, so it gave me three hours.

I decided to ditch my leopard look. I picked out a red dress and red heels. I decided to get my hair done at Tempest’s, a mage who uses her magic to create new and inventive hairstyles. She’s a high stats mage so I wonder why she uses her abilities for something so useless. I decided just to go with a simple high ponytail. Everywhere I went, the only thing people were talking about was the party Don was throwing. They said thing like:

“I can believe we finally get to meet Don Martin, the creator of this amazing world!”  
“I can’t believe you’re not going, we finally get to meet the great Don Martin.”  
“I wonder what Don’s big announcement is going to be?”  
“I heard he got Gravity to play.  
I found it sad the way they talked about Don. They acted like he was some hero who saved them from the terrible real world when in real life he’s responsible for the world’s biggest ransom. The victims of this ransom? The same people treating him like a hero.  
Exactly at five, a limo came to pick me up. I shared it with about ten other avatars. Most were talking or singing at the top of their longs. I tried studying the biography Don wrote, but I realized it was hopeless when they sang “I’ll Be Watching you” by Sting. At least they sang “Hallelujah” by Panic! At the Disco.

Capital City was just as big as it was in the pictures. I got a photo from Z yesterday from here because she is vacationing here for awhile. She’s trying to clear her mind of the ransom and Ashley’s revival. We ended up stopping at a big hotel called “The Lovelet.” As soon as I walked into the lobby, I saw Z and she hugged me. She was wearing a purple dress with black high heels.

“Sup, Laur3n,” she said.  
“Aye Z,” I said awkwardly. Being one of the most popular girls at my school, I’m used to hugs, but not from strangers.  
“Where have you been?”Z asked.  
“In my cabin, eating chips,” I said, awkwardly.  
“Well let’s go in, X has already gotten us a table,” Z said.

The ballroom the party was hosted in was dark. There was only one light and it was blue and on the ceiling. The room was mostly decorated with diamonds. An avatar of the name Skittles was performing on the stage. She was doing a cover “Cool for the Summer” by Becky G. I saw Dianne and Airon sitting at a table, talking. I ran over and sat at the table. Only in a game can you run in high heels.

“Hey L,” Airon said.  
“Sup,” I said.  
“Dianne just told me her plan to get out of this virtual prison,” Airon said.  
“Wait?”I asked, surprised.  
The room became quiet. I look around and it said they were all looking at their messages. I heard a gasp.  
“We're all going to die!”I heard someone yell. People started panicking. People also started trying to take off their sets. Now phase three of my plan can begin.


	6. Chapter 6

Ever since I bought my Forland set, I had a three-phase plan. My plan is:

Phase one: enter the Forland, and make at least one friend.  
Phase two: let that friend know about what’s going on in the real world and find Airon and let him know.  
Phase three: let all 100,004 other hostages now, then start an all-out war.

I walked onto the stage. Skittles had already left the stage. I stood there in wait for the crowd to calm down, which understandably took about an hour. Once everyone settled down, I quickly thought of something to say. “Good evening,” I said. I slapped my forehead in shame.

“As you know, this fantasy world is just a front for Don Martin’s sinister plan, and that our lives are in danger. If you help me, we can save each other. No matter who you are in real life, or what you look like, staying here is not worth the risk. Are you ready to save over a hundred 100,000 lives with me?”I said. Writing speeches was never something I was good at. People started chanting my name “Laur3n! Laur3n! Laur3n!” Skittles entered the stage

“On page 124 of Virtual Times, it states ‘you can find freedom at the heart’ at first I thought that freedom was The Forland, but know I think it’s freedom from The Forland,” Skittle stated.  
“Good theory,” I said, “does anyone have an idea of what the heart could be?”  
“The database at the center of this town!”Airon yelled.  
“Good idea, we’ll check there first,” I said.

I created a new event, it was called Operation Freedom. We met about five minutes later at the database. It is a big 12 story building. It’s the largest building in the entire Forland. We agreed to enter in groups of five. Since I, Airon, and Dianne were leading this thing, we went in first.  
“Hello, how may I help you today?” the lady behind the desk asked.  
“Is there room in this building entitled The Heart?”I said.  
“That information is classified,” she said. I cast a spell that turned her into a toad.  
“There should be a map of the building somewhere,” Dianna suggested. We noticed that each map was only for the floor we were on. We ran up each staircase, hoping it was the right floor. The building became laggier as more avatars entered the building. On the 10th floor, the found a room entitled “The Heart.” Before we entered the room, I realized something.  
“I think this is a trap,” I said.  
“Why?”Airon asked.  
“If Don was keeping us here to get a million dollars, why would he create a way out?”I asked.  
“Come on L, we’ve come too far to turn around now,” Airon said. I sighed.  
“You’re right,” I said.  
“We’re gonna escape no matter what, or we’ll die trying,” Dianne said, putting her hand on my shoulder. We entered the room.

The room was huge. There were no windows. The only thing in the room was a flat-screen T.V that had the words “The Heart.” The Heart. “It’s gonna be this easy?” Airon asked.  
“No, it seems too obvious,” I said.  
“Lauren, we all now Don Martin is a genius, but maybe he didn’t think this room threw,” Airon said.  
“Airon, maybe she’s right,” Dianne said. After she said that, NPCs filled the room. They weren’t the average NPCs I usually saw around the world. These NPCs were monsters. We knew in a confrontation, the avatar or NPC would die. 

It was an all-out war. Since most of us had studied our race and leveled our stars(abilities) we got threw most of the NPCs easily. Though a lot of us were of the same race, we all brought something valuable to the table, even the obscure creatures helped. Occasionally an Oompa Loompa would put on a song and dance while one attacked from the back. I started humming Come Together while I fought. After defeating a troll, I saw an opening to the T.V.  
“Go, I’ve got your back,” Airon said. I got nostalgic when he said that. It reminded me of the week we had the flu and mom rented Call of Duty: Black Ops 2. He said the exact same thing when we were in an intense match. I’m glad to have my brother back.  
I noticed an Xbox was plugged into the T.V. I turned it on. Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 was already in. Once I clicked on the game, I was sucked into the T.V. I ended up in Nuketown. An arrow on the ground to give me directions. It leads me to a building. Don Martin was laying in a corner. He was laying there, dying. He was bleeding.  
“You’re the man who’s responsible for the world’s biggest ransom,” I said, angrily.  
“Please listen to me,” he said. Seeing the look on his face, I decided to listen.  
“Okay, what is your reason,” I said.  
“I need the money so I can visit my daughter who I haven’t seen in twenty years,” he said. I sat near him on my knees. 

He explained that he has a wife in France and they have a daughter named Emma. When Emma was a year old, he had to go to America for work. While overseas he lost his job and didn’t have enough for a plane ride back. He had to survive in Atlanta with only clothes, a toothbrush, and forty dollars to his name. He met up with a man named Steve Jones and they became business partners.

About two years later, Steve got married and left the company to go back to school. He took most of the $5,000,000. He decided to put their big magnum opus on the market “The Forland.” Advertising caused the rest of the money Steve left. He had enough money to go back to France, but he wanted to bring back a lot of money. 

“You never went insane, you just wanted to see your kid,” I said surprised.  
“Before I died, I wanted someone to know the true story,” he said. Then my screen turned white.


	7. Chapter 7

I woke up back in Airon’s room. I took off my set and I looked out the window. Everything in this world I took for granted was now the most precious thing. The sun, the grass the leaves. They were there, and they were perfect. People were exiting their houses, they were outside for the first time in over a month. I checked my phone, Garrett had tried to call me 140 times and 667 messages. After helping Airon back into his wheelchair, I rolled him outside.

Everyone was happy. Some kids were even destroying their sets with baseball bats. This was bittersweet for me. I was happy for them, but now knowing why Airon did what he did. He did a terrible thing, but he had good intentions. I left Airon with Emily Cotts/Skittles while I went across the street. I knocked on the door. Garett opened it for me.  
“Lauren?”Garrett asked.  
“Sup, G,” I said, “may I come in?”  
“Sure, I was about to pop in Wonder Woman,” he said. I walked in.


	8. Eight Years Later

My name is Lauren Carder and I’m 26. I moved to New York after high school to attend Colombia Unversity. I now have a high paying job at a big fashion company. I’m about to get married to the love of my life Ezra. Garrett and I grew out of touch. I found Dianne, who was a college student who’s majoring in journalism. We became roommates once I moved to New York.

After being free for two weeks, I announced I was Laur3n. My life was never the same. For a month, every night I was on a talk show. On my first talk show, I met Ezra. He was an intern working on sound. I can’t go anywhere without being ambushed by paparazzi. Books were written about me, mini-series, and there’s even a movie in production. All adaptations left out my conversation with Don Martin, much to my dismay.

Airon had surgery to be able to walk. It was successful. Airon became a flight attendant. I have dreams of The Forland. The worst part was today. I was driving by The RadioShack(which was rebuilt) when I saw advertising for something called The Fiveland.


End file.
